The Rockwall Art League Show Moved Across the Street From San Jacinto Plaza. Here's How to Spend the Weekend Downtown.

"This is a chance to see a lot of original art in one room, meet the people who made it and maybe take a piece home," Rockwall Art League president Tammy Pennington told Blue Ribbon News. "You don't need to know anything about art to enjoy it, and it's free to walk in."

For its 26th year, the room she's talking about is in a new place. The Rockwall Art League's Annual Juried Fine Art Show & Sale runs Oct. 16–18 at The Center at Rockwall City Place, 108 E. Washington St. Last year's show was at Cavender Nissan of Rockwall. The move puts the show across the street from San Jacinto Plaza, where free Friday and Saturday night concerts are playing their final October weekends. The show and the music now share a block, a crosswalk and a parking lot.

The Lot Behind The Center Serves Both Events

The Center is a City of Rockwall Parks facility. It has a rentable Lone Star Room that holds 216 people seated or 426 standing. If you've been to a San Jacinto Plaza concert, you've probably parked behind it already. The city's music series page sends concertgoers to the public lot behind The Center, which has more than 100 spaces. You can reach it from South Goliad or East Washington, and a crosswalk leads over to the plaza.

That means one parking spot covers the whole evening this Friday and Saturday. The show and the concert schedule overlap like this:

On Saturday the show closes at 7 p.m., the same time Ralyn Gayle starts across the street. On Friday, the artist reception runs until 7:30, so it overlaps the first half hour of Scott Sean White's set.

About Half the Entries Made It Onto the Walls

This year, 143 artists entered 387 works. A three-person jury picked 192 of them, roughly half, for the show. Those 192 pieces come from 119 artists, up from 111 last year. The artists are from 49 cities in Texas and Oklahoma, and 30 of them are from Rockwall.

There are eight categories: oil, acrylic, watercolor, drawing, photography, sculpture, mosaic and mixed media. Digital art is included in mixed media for the first time this year. Acrylic is the biggest category, with 36 works. Blue Ribbon News previewed a few of the pieces:

• "Delighted With Myself (Flying Pig)," a stained-glass mosaic by Cindy Ingram of Wylie
• "Orange rose red," an oil painting with gold and silver leaf by Jimmie Shealey of Fort Worth
• "Pancham," an acrylic painting by Aimee Conaway of Plano

Judges Dana Brock and Rachel Townsend Cerny will award up to $6,600 in cash prizes. Best in Show gets $1,000, and first and second place in each category get $500 and $200. The league also gives nine special awards. Visitors can vote for People's Choice all weekend. The others are chosen by the mayor of Rockwall, local medical professionals, local publishers, Rockwall County representatives, and representatives from Rockwall, Fate, Heath, McLendon-Chisholm, Royse City and Rowlett.

Prices Start at $50, and the $25 Miniatures Fund Scholarships

Most of the art is for sale, starting at $50. You buy at the show, and part of each sale goes to the Rockwall Art League. The league is also selling a small group of miniatures for $25 each. That money goes to its scholarship program for Rockwall-area high school students.

If you plan to buy, pay attention to Sunday's timing. The league's schedule starts artwork pickup and art sales right after the 3 p.m. awards, and pickup ends at 5 p.m. Size limits are also new this year. Two-dimensional works can't be larger than 36 by 36 inches, frame included, and sculptures can't weigh more than 50 pounds. Those limits mean most of what's on the walls will fit above a mantel or in a hallway, and it can go home in a regular car.

The Rockwall Art League has more details. It's a volunteer-run nonprofit founded in 2000. Besides the show, it runs workshops, studio days, the Tom Collins Memorial Scholarship, and the ArtReach and SHINE programs for the special-needs community.

Where to Eat and Shop Within a Few Blocks

Because The Center is right on the square, you can fit the show in between meals without moving the car. These spots are a short walk away. Their own websites list current hours.

1. Book Club Cafe, 107 E. Kaufman St. A scratch-made breakfast and lunch cafe that bakes its own bread and pastries and roasts its own coffee. It's open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Wednesday, so it works for Saturday morning or Sunday before the show opens at noon.
2. Fable & Fire, 118 E. Rusk St. A bookshop and bistro that serves coffee during the day and dinner and cocktails in the evening. It takes reservations and is open daily.
3. Bin 303, 105 Olive St. A husband-and-wife-owned restaurant serving Texas cuisine and wine. It serves dinner Tuesday through Sunday, which fits between the Friday reception and the music.
4. Lyla's: Clothing & Gifts, 114 E. Rusk St. A women's clothing and gift boutique that's open seven days a week. It opened in Rockwall in April 2024 and moved one block, from 115 S. Goliad St., in August 2025.
5. Simply Kate, 210 E. Rusk St. Clothing, jewelry, accessories and gifts. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., so Saturday is your chance this weekend.

The Saturday farmers market won't be on the square this weekend. The downtown market runs May through September, 8 a.m. to noon, at 101 E. Rusk St. That leaves Book Club Cafe and Fable & Fire as your Saturday morning options before the show opens at 10.

The Concerts End With October

The art show lasts three days, and the free outdoor music doesn't last much longer. The 2026 San Jacinto Music Series, the 12th season, runs Friday and Saturday nights from May through October, 7 to 9:30 p.m., with 43 free concerts. After this weekend, two shows are left: Water Sign, an eclectic R&B, soul and pop act, on Oct. 23, and Cody Cresswell, Americana and Texas country, on Oct. 30. If the weather looks iffy, the city decides by 6 p.m. on concert night and posts updates on the San Jacinto Plaza Music Facebook page.

At Concert by the Lake, the fall Thursday lineup at The Harbor, 2059 Summer Lee Dr., starts the art weekend a night early. Buffett Beach Band plays Thursday, Oct. 15. After that, Def Leggend plays Oct. 22 and the Rockwall Philharmonic Orchestra closes the series Oct. 29. The Rockwall Herald Banner lists the shows as 7 to 9 p.m. For those concerts, park in the public spaces along Summer Lee Drive or the garage by the Trend HR Tower.

So this weekend, you can see a Thursday concert at the lake, the art show Friday through Sunday, and the plaza music on Friday and Saturday. Both concert series have their last shows scheduled by Oct. 30.

Our team loves weekends like this one, when the art league, the city and a few blocks of local shops all show up in the same place. If a new painting from Saturday has you thinking about the walls you'll hang it on, or the home those walls are in, The Sarah Naylor Team is happy to help you see what your place is worth today. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, and we'll see you on the square.